Seven Days
by J. Peterson
Summary: Elsanna, icest. Semi-related oneshots written for Elsannity and Elsanna weeks on Tumblr. M-rating for chapter 3.
1. Late Night Kisses

**Disclaimer:**  
><em>Frozen<em>, all characters and other related indica are © to Disney and... whomever else (certainly not me). No profit made, no infringement intended.

**Warnings:**  
>Wincesticest/princest – call it what you will; just back up a step if it isn't your thing.

If no qualms; enjoy.

**Late Night Kisses**

* * *

><p>It was with the gentle sound of breathing and the light patter of bare feet against the wooden floor that Elsa walked down the hall; one hand holding her heeled shoes, and the other keeping a fluttering candle aloft to chase back the shadows. Currently, she had a mere, three things on her mind; irritation that her session with the royal council had run twice as long and knocked her already busy schedule back in a particular cringe-worthy example of a loose pebble setting off a landslide, absentminded wondering if she should put her shoes back on so she could rub at her dry eyes, and wistful imaginings of already being tucked away in her bedroom; under the covers and sound asleep.<p>

The castle, at this time of night, was dark and silent. Even the most loyal servants had gone to bed hours ago – the last of them on her own orders - and so she was alone with her increasingly incoherent thoughts, the faint guttering of the candle she held, and the near-inaudible whoosh of her own breathing. Anna, she realized as her focus sharpened enough for her to weave around a hanging curtain, was probably going to be quite cross in the morning, since they'd made plans to spend the evening together and she'd had to cancel those with no more than a hastily written note.

Elsa counted herself fortunate that her sister was understanding enough to not be cross with _her_. As for the council, she only hoped that she could find the time to listen in on Anna's upcoming session with them, because the princess had a way of handling (and when circumstances demanded it; reprimanding) them that she herself was honestly in awe of. Anna was the friendliest young woman anyone could hope to meet; charming and open and so very innocuous to look at, but there was steel in that spine, and a sharp-tongued wit lurking behind those unassuming, smiling teal eyes that could cut a man – or a queen – down to size at the flick of a wrist, while the unfortunate target was left feeling unsure if they'd even _been_ told off.

If she couldn't be there for the session herself, perhaps she'd have to have a scribe take notes.

Covering a yawn with one arm – she thankfully remembered that her hands were otherwise occupied and therefore avoided beaning herself in the face – she turned the final corner before the doors that led to her private chambers. Due to the darkness and the cloudy, night sky, it was several more steps before she noticed the somnolent form sitting against the wall by the door, and it was with a gentle smile that she then knelt herself, and carefully set both the candle and her shoes aside.

Anna, of course, was beautiful in any light, but something about the gilded luminescence of the flickering candle managed to enhance it, all the same. Perhaps, Elsa considered, it was the subtle way in which it deepened the fiery shade of the long, wavy strands that hung loose around her shoulders, or how it caught the fine, normally invisible hairs on her face and made them glitter like tiny flecks of gold against her tanned skin and those freckles that Elsa herself knew every last one of. Perhaps it was the slow, shifting shadows it cast across her body to highlight the dips, curves and folds in the fabric of the satiny, white robe that tied around her slender frame, or the way those same shadows played over the planes of her cheeks and forehead, the soft, smooth arch of her nose or the almost hesitant pout of her lips.

Or perhaps she was just exhausted and feeling poetic, the queen wryly allowed. All the same, she was beyond glad to see her – even if she was snoring softly.

"Anna." She reached out a hand and trailed a light touch over a warm cheek, and smiled when she saw the flutter of eyelids almost immediately.

"Hrmn?" One bleary, teal eye opened a few heartbeats before its partner, and she took the time to examine how the low, warm lighting had turned it almost ocher in color. "Elsa." Then there was a sweet smile on pink lips, and arms that wrapped around her waist and pulled her into a gentle, golden peace. "God, what time is it?"

"Hmm." Elsa sank into the embrace willingly, and inhaled the familiar scent that was so uniquely _Anna_ with a definite sense of lazy enjoyment. "Depends on how you look at it, I suppose," she mumbled into the soft skin where her sister's neck met her shoulder. "Either much too late, or entirely too early."

A low laugh made the skin vibrate against her lips. "Yeah, I figured," the younger woman noted with what sounded like that half-grin that made the corners of her eyes crinkle. "I'm guessing you'll be sitting in on my meeting next week?"

Elsa chuckled herself, and straightened enough that she could see that grin – though only barely, since their foreheads were touching. "You know me so well," she admitted, and slid her hands up along Anna's arms so she could wrap her own around her sister's shoulders. "You could just have gone inside," she then noted, with a glance towards the door.

"I could," Anna agreed, and trailed a touch over her jawline. "But then I would've had to wait longer to see you." A single finger tapped her chin, and the teal eyes twinkled with gentle amusement. "I _was_ thinking about setting up camp in your study, though, before I nodded off."

Perhaps it was due to how tired she was, but something about that notion struck Elsa as unexpectedly hilarious, and she ended up giving a series of rather unladylike snorts as she tried to hold back the sudden mirth.

"Oo." Her sister seemed quite pleased with this turn of events. "Now that's a nice way to end the day. Or start it, maybe."

"Oh?" She managed to get a hold of herself, and smiled when she felt the faint, shifting motions of Anna moving just a fraction closer. "What is?"

"Seeing you laugh." The familiar voice was a low, warm whisper. "That's the most beautiful thing in the world."

God, but what this woman could do to her with the mere use of her voice, Elsa considered, and felt her heart ache with love as their lips brushed gently. "You are thoroughly biased," she murmured back, and felt the tingle of contact with each word.

Another soft laugh; one that sent a tender exhale brushing over her face. "You bet I am."

At least she admitted to it, she decided, and traced a single fingertip over the shell of Anna's ear in exchange for a subtle shudder. The skin beneath her touch was warm and smooth, and she knew that those lips would be smoother still; that they would rob her of breath and speech and coherency if she let them.

So she did, and felt them curve into a smile.

xXxXx

**Notes:**  
>Written for Elsannity Week on Tumblr, although <em>Late Night Kisses<em> was the prompt for 140714, so it's a day late and I have... *eyes time* ... 4 hours to write the next one. Erp. Oh well - only came across it today, after all.


	2. Morning After a Busy Night

For disclaimers, please see part one.

**Warnings:**  
>Wincesticest/princest, biting, suggestive (though not actually sexual – hence the T) content.

Enjoy.

**Morning After a Busy Night**

* * *

><p>"Elsa!"<p>

The sound of her own name was almost angrily indignant, which was – thankfully – quite unusual when one took into account the voice that spoke it.

"Yes?" She glanced up from her vanity to see Anna standing in the currently open door to the bathroom; hands on her hips and a scowl on her face that was too cute to really be threatening. She had an inkling of what was causing this demeanor, and a rather good one at that, but managed to keep her features schooled into neutrality as she continued to brush her hair. "What is it?"

In reply, her sister huffed and jutted an imperious, tensely straightened index finger at the side of her own throat.

"Hm?" Making as if she was unable to see properly, Elsa put her brush down and stood; taking the few steps over to the younger woman and leaning over to peer intently at the bruised skin Anna was pointing to. "Oh, you're right," she said with faux-surprise. "It's almost heart-shaped – how unusual."

A hand smacked against her bare shoulder. "Don't get cute," Anna warned around a half-growl, and tugged at her own night gown. "I have more spots than a _leopard_ under this! How am I going to explain that to anyone?"

Elsa sniffed thoughtfully, and folded her arms over her shift-clad chest. "You let the bedbugs bite?" she offered, and dodged another whap with a swiftly-hidden grin. "I should hope," she then said, and let her voice drop into a lower register while curling her lips into a smirk. "That the only one you know who will _require_ an explanation is me."

Her sister sighed through her teeth and rubbed a hand over her forehead. "Of course you are," she confirmed more quietly. "But you know how gossip works. One change of clothes and the whole city'll be talking."

"Given that you're the one of us who actually _follows_ gossip, you should know that it already is," Elsa noted, and leaned in to place a soft kiss to a flushed cheek before lingering there. "Even I've heard those rumors."

"Mm." Anna's hands settled on her upper arms, and she saw her eyes close from the corner of her own. "Is that a reason to give them any confirmation, though?"

"A good ruler inspires her subjects," she murmured against the warm skin, and settled her own palms on the recently vacated, silk-clad hips while giving a nearby earlobe a tender nip. "And I could never think of a better inspiration than you."

The tips of the fingers on her arms dug in slightly. "You're _awful_," Anna told her, but there was a slight undercurrent of amusement in her voice that she couldn't hide.

Elsa laughed softly. "Awful good to look at?" she wondered, and wound her arms fully around her sister's waist with a smile. "Awful nice to be with?" She watched the teal eyes roll, and ducked her head for a kiss, which she received with a faint quirk of the lips under her own. "Awful sweet to have and hold?"

"Well, your ego is definitely awful," was the amused reply as Anna's fingers trailed up the back of her neck and left pleasant, tingling sensations in their wake. "Especially with how you keep marking me like this." Warm lips found her throat, and she had to fight back a shudder when even teeth scraped over the spot that mirrored the one where she'd left a visible bite herself. "And in such obvious places – you know my dresses don't have high necks like yours."

"Whose choice was that?" Elsa managed to inquire over the soft sound of her nails dragging over the silk of the younger woman's shift, and took a small step backwards as Anna leaned on her. "And really; we aren't in the 1700's anymore, hm? Love bites are hardly as scandalous of a thing as they have been," she told her dryly, and traced a touch up a slender waist to gently expanding ribs. "So if you worry so much about something like that, you're old, dear."

"Uh huh." Nimble fingers tweaked her ear in reproach, and she had to bite her lip when the gentle ministrations at the base of her throat became a definite – though short – bite. "Old with worldly wisdom, maybe." Her ear was tweaked again when she chuckled at that, and then she was given slight push backwards, and could see Anna's eyes narrowing at her. "Old like... gorgonzola?"

Elsa truly tried to stay her amused smile, but was given a second push, and so apparently failed to. "Old like-" A third push, and her eyes widened when the back of her knees hit something and she suddenly found herself on the bed, with a triumphantly smirking Anna on all fours above her. "- vintage, French champagne?"

"Perhaps not old, then," she allowed – a bit shakily, since silky lips were drawing a heated line from her chin to her ear. "Terribly sneaky, though."

"Mhmm." Anna's lips curved a smile against the side of her throat, and there were warm hands gently pushing against her lower ribcage and moist breathing washing over suddenly sensitive skin. "And now, you're going to be awful _good_, and hold still while I return the 'royal favors' you gave me, right?"

Elsa wasn't really in a state that allowed enough coherent thought to answer that.

xXxXx

**Notes:**  
>Written for Elsannity Week on Tumbler, with the Tuesday prompt <em>Morning After a Busy Night<em> (150714). I'm also using a few lyrics in here:

_You're awful  
>Awful good to look at<em>  
><em>Awful nice to be with<em>  
><em>Awful sweet to have and hold<em>

_(…)_

_You're old, dear  
>Old with worldly wisdom<br>Old like gorgonzola  
>Old like vintage, French champagne<em>

The song is simply called _You're Awful_, and is performed by Frank Sinatra and Betty Garrett in _On The Town_ (1949). As such; not mine, though I do own a copy of the DVD.


	3. Kinks

For disclaimers, please see part one.

**Warnings:**  
>Wincesticest, biting, temperature play (because Elsa), mild domination (because why not?). Also (if it wasn't obvious) sex, but nothing particularly graphic (I've had my descriptions of such things termed 'subtle' before).

(Yes, I like brackets.)

Enjoy.

**Kinks**

* * *

><p>"No." She leaned a little harder on the chair arm, and moved her free hand from the backrest to the one holding the pen to stop it from moving. "Wait – sorry. It was a full dozen bushels; not just ten."<p>

A low groan emitted from the young woman sitting by the desk, and a pale hand came up to lay itself across sky-blue eyes in exasperation.

"Anna, this is the _third_ rewrite," Elsa complained as a single, clear eye peered reproachfully up at her from between two fingers. "What is _with_ you today? Your recall is usually as good as mine."

She chuckled, and pressed a gentle, apologetic kiss to her sister's head. "Now that's what I call a compliment," she whispered into the starlight-colored hair, and smiled when she felt the faint motion of Elsa sagging in her seat with a sigh. "I'm sorry – I'm not sure what's gotten into me."

"We all have our off days, I suppose," Elsa allowed, and crumpled up the third rewrite before pulling over the paper for a fourth. "At least I won't have to check the previous ones; I'll wager that I know them by heart now."

She carefully swallowed a laugh at the – to her - clear note of frustration, and perched on the arm of the chair. "Please. You knew it by heart after the first try," she teased gently, and waited for her sister to lean over the desk again before settling her hands on the exposed shoulders and rubbing the warm skin gently.

Elsa had such lovely shoulders, Anna decided as she let the queen work in silence, and focused on her own attentions. They were slender and pale like the rest of her, and had the faintest smattering of tiny, near-invisible freckles that could really only be seen if one were to practically bump one's nose against her skin. Anna, of course, knew the exact location of every last one of them about as well as she knew the cords of hidden, slim muscle that were currently shifting under her fingers. She knew, as well, exactly where irritation tended to make her sister tense up, and now worried tenderly at those spots while Elsa wrote.

"Better?" she questioned softly, and saw the fair head nod.

"Much." The queen's voice had both warmed and relaxed right alongside the tendons under her hands. "You don't have to stop, though."

"Wasn't planning on it," Anna promised, and leaned over a bit precariously to place a kiss at the juncture of a neck and a shoulder. "You're the one who keeps saying that I can't keep my hands off you, right?"

Abruptly, the sound of pen on paper halted, and a neat, blonde eyebrow quirked at her. "I should certainly hope so."

"Elsa." She kept her voice a little exasperated, but privately loved the hints of possessive jealousy that popped up from time to time. It was a good excuse to wrap her arms loosely around her sister's shoulders, though; so she did, and pressed another light kiss to the spot of skin just below her ear. "You don't have anything to worry about; trust me. I might be younger, but you're a handful and a half to keep up with."

That made the queen laugh outright; an almost tinkling sound that slid over Anna's ears with slow sweetness as first soft hair and then softer skin brushed against her cheek. "_I'm_ a handful?" The voice was warm, and almost felt like it was in her own head when Elsa craned her neck enough peer at her. "You do realize how that makes you a cartload, at the very least, hm?"

"Nope." Deftly, she adjusted her hands lower and felt the body in her arms first stiffen, and then move in a silent chuckle. "You're definitely bigger."

"And you're definitely incorrigible," was the droll reply; accompanied by the brush of lips against her jaw while long, immaculate fingers toyed idly with the pen they held.

Anna shifted her hands away again with a faint smile, and instead caught Elsa's braid between gentle fingers. "I have a lot of inspiration," she stated only half-jokingly, and used the very ends of the soft hair to tickle her sister's chin.

"As well as a silver tongue, apparently," came the murmur against her skin, along with a slow rush of warm breath that sent tingles down her spine. "Odd, since I really should have noticed such a thing quite a while back."

Contentedly, Anna pushed her face into the summer-scented hair and inhaled, while simultaneously tracing slow, stroking patterns with her fingers over gently moving ribs. It was odd, perhaps, that Elsa smelled of all things warm and mild when she was so cold in coloring; icy blue, silky alabaster, pale, peach-pink and fading starlight. And then again, perhaps it wasn't; it might just have been like the grass beneath the snow – waiting there for the one who would dig enough to find it.

"Well..." Her lips brushed against the side of Elsa's head as she spoke, and she felt a hand come to rest on her knee. "You've been a little distracted whenever you've recently had the chance to examine it."

"And whose fault might that have been?" There was the clatter of the pen landing on the surface of the desk, and then the slow sound of shifting fabric as Elsa extracted herself and stood; pulling Anna up with her as she went.

"Mine?" she half-questioned; batting her eyelashes for extra effect, though the only thing she got in reply was a faint tug at the corner of her sister's mouth, and the feeling of familiar hands settling on her hips.

"Yes." A perfectly curved nose bumped her own as the world spun a fraction; then there was a sturdy, heavy surface against the backs of her thighs, and she was being guided to a seat on the edge of the desk with the scraping of paper and fabric over wood. "There," Elsa then said, and was so close that all she could see was her eyes; tiny flecks of sapphire amidst lighter, twinkling azure as she leaned on the wooden surface with her hands on either side of Anna. "Now I won't have to get a crick in my neck from your seducing me."

Smiling, she curved her fingers around the table's edge and angled her head enough to let their lips brush. "Was that what I was doing?"

"Subtly so, surprisingly" was the alliterate murmur against her own mouth, followed by a light nibble to her upper lip. "At least apart from the chest grab."

"I guess I gotta work on that part," she agreed around a chuckle, and felt her breathing deepen when there were warm hands on her knees, and her legs were being nudged open enough for Elsa to stand between them. "I hope you're open to the idea of practice sessions."

A low laugh at that – just below her ear – and the sensation of those hands sliding up over her skirt-clad thighs and lifting the fabric just a few inches as they went. "Even if I wasn't," came the whisper. "I've little doubt you could convince me." A pause, and then the rush of deliberately cool air that sent a shiver of pure sensation down her back and made her eyes slip shut. "You're very good at breaking me away from my work."

"All work and no play," Anna quoted a little shakily, and lifted her hands to continue her exploration of that tantalizing body – only to have them caught, and placed back on the desk, although significantly further back from where they'd been previously.

"No." Elsa's voice was firm, and had the faintest trace of a husk to it as it fairly vibrated against the base of her throat from between silky lips. "My study, my rules. Keep them there."

That drew a faint groan of protest from her throat, but she obliged and leaned a little more on her hands to better support herself; head dropping back as a warm, wet mouth traced her skin from collarbone to collarbone. The hands were on her waist now, she noted a tad fuzzily, and their fingers dragging over the fabric of her dress with slow, steady intent. She wanted to clench her thighs or at least push her hips into something to alleviate the pressure she could feel rising low in her belly, but Elsa – the stinker – was standing just a fraction too close and yet not close enough for either one to be an option.

Soft lips were then pressing kisses to her jaw, and Anna raised her head enough to meet now-sapphire-blue eyes. She was only vaguely aware of the thin line of moisture tracing her upper chest as she practically sank into that heated gaze and tried to regulate her breathing. Then an icy fingertip traced through it and left a fine layer of frost in its wake, and it was all she could do to breathe _at all_ as the tingling cold formed and almost immediately dispersed from her body heat alone.

"Have I ever mentioned," Elsa's voice mused, and managed to center her focus a little. "That I'm glad you're so adamant about dressing yourself whenever possible?"

"Uh..." She blinked, and caught the faint tugs of fingers playing with the laces that artfully ran along the center-line of the front of her torso. "I... don't know."

"Hm." Another line of sheer ice – this one crossing her pulse-point – made her gasp, and it was through heavily-lidded eyes that she watched the pink lips shape a satisfied, little smile. "Then in case I haven't – I am."

"Good to hear," Anna somehow managed to say; focused as she was on watching one, long finger wind itself in one of the laces and tug lightly. The lace was – along with its twin – tied into a relatively neat bow just a scant inch from the topmost hem of her bodice, and the motion resulted in the faintest of brushes against the swell of her chest; faint, yes, but definitely noticeable, and she had to bite her lip to hold back a soft sound of encouragement. "I, um... aim to please."

"Oh?" The finger stopped its tugging and instead traced a firm line all the way down to her navel while a hand grasped her waist, and she just _could not look away_ from that still-darkening gaze. "So you'll do as I say?" Elsa's voice, too, was growing lower in pitch, and there was something about her expression – maybe the intent narrowing of her eyes or the way she wet her lips – that made Anna glad to be already sitting down so her rubbery legs wouldn't have to hold her up.

_Oh, yeah_, her mind whispered. _Anything_.

"I have been so far, haven't I?" she wondered with a teasing smirk, and then arched her back on sudden, harsh instinct; eyes snapping tightly shut and a hoarse sound pulled from her throat as a blast of frigid air curled down the front of her bodice, beneath her breasts and all the way down to the apex of her thighs.

"Yes or no," came a low growl along with the sharp sting of even teeth closing on her bottom lip, and it was all she could do to suck in a shuddering breath when two hands clasped her hips and she was pulled bodily up against her sister.

"Yes," she breathed, and then moaned into the mouth that claimed her own. It was potentially the headiest kiss the two of them had ever shared – almost bruising in its intensity and with a distinct scrape of well-tended nails over flushed skin as her skirt was dragged up to her knees on the back of Elsa's wrists, and it had her melting so thoroughly that her arms conceded defeat and she had to drop down onto her elbows.

"Wrap your legs around me." The hoarse whisper washed over her sternum because the laces had somehow been undone far enough for that, and somehow, through the hazy fog clouding her mind from anything that wasn't _touch_, Anna managed to hear it, and hooked her ankles at the small of the queen's back. "Good." Slow breezes were teasing every single inch of her as she was steadily exposed; going from cool to outright frosty and – along with the touch of heated lips to even hotter skin - drawing sounds from her throat that she'd never heard herself make.

"Elsa!" The name was sweet on her tongue as it had never been before - a prayer and a plea all at once when there was a touch where she needed it the very most; warm fingers stroking at the center of her being gently, easily and insistently. Coaxing, like the thumb that flicked and circled and pressed in alternating temperatures of warm and cold, and had her chest straining for the ceiling and her fingers curling into the woodgrain top of the desk.

A whisper, then, at the shell of her ear: "My Anna." It was deep and claiming, but at the same time so heartbreakingly tender and thick with adoration that it brought tears to her eyes, and when a hand caught her own and wordlessly allowed touch by placing it on a barely-freckled shoulder, she buried her fingers in thick, fine hair and pulled until she could see those eyes, however blurry her own vision was.

They were completely indigo now, she realized, and she could taste the warmth of Elsa's harsh exhales against her own lips as their breaths mingled. The touch was still there; growing faster, firmer as their gazes crossed and the look in her own eyes was undoubtedly recognized, and she welcomed it with every inch of her heart, body and soul as she fought to keep her eyes from closing and her cries from growing too loud.

An arm curled around the small of her back and held her up, and when she finally lost the battle with her sight, it was Elsa's voice that carried her further; Elsa's whispered, gentle words against her own lips that drove her higher, that made her legs and arms tighten and pull her closer; the scent of _Elsa's_ hair and skin and breath that wrapped her up and held her safe in glittering, golden warmth when tingles spread throughout her body and brilliant colors finally and all too soon exploded behind her eyelids and left her weak and trembling.

It was, Anna decided as her heart started to slow its frenetic pounding against her ribs and she shakily, laughingly returned the gentle caresses of the smiling mouth above her own, absolutely perfect.

With Elsa, how could it ever be anything but?

xXxXx

**Notes:**  
>Written for Elsannity Week om Tumblr (where I can be found, too), with the Wednesday prompt <em>Kinks<em> (160714).

In other news, it's now two in the morning. Goodnight, world.


	4. Moonlit Night

For disclaimers, please see part one.

**Warnings:**  
>Wincesticest, etc.

**Moonlit Night**

* * *

><p>This, Anna decided, was quite a difference from the last time she'd been on horseback in the snow, and for several reasons. For one, it was actually winter now; just into January, and the snow that covered the ground and trees thickly was therefore the product of nature itself, instead of more unusual means. For another, there were arms wrapped around her waist underneath her cloak as the horse strode steadily on, and the familiar sensation of a chin resting on her shoulder while she was pretty much snuggled into the body behind her in the saddle. And, of course, there was the additional mass of supplies in the saddlebags that tearing off into the night hadn't given her the time to secure the previous summer.<p>

"How much longer?" Elsa's voice wondered from next to her, and she felt the light brush of cheek against cheek as the queen peered at the surrounding forest; illuminated only by the steadily purpling light of dusk as the afternoon wound to an end and evening approached. "We've been riding for... half an hour?"

Curiously, Anna stood in her stirrups a little; squinting as she studied the final, fading rays of sunlight that cast gilded shadows against the underside of the few, puffy clouds floating overhead. "Just about," she agreed as she settled back down. "It's not much further. I don't mind riding back in the dark, but I wasn't planning on staying out all night."

"Hm." The arms around her waist squeezed gently. "You told me about the wolves."

"Yeah." She laughed a little at that memory, and enjoyed the feeling of fingertips lazily stroking her sides. "And I'm really glad we didn't see them until we started climbing the mountain – I don't have a lute handy this time." Her head jerked around abruptly when a single tree shed its wintry coating of white entirely with a rushing whoosh, and then she smiled when Elsa's arm settled back around her and there was the light pressure of lips against her cheek. "On the other hand..."

"... you didn't have me with you back then, either," Elsa finished just a touch smugly, and Anna had to bite her lip to smother a giggle, because she was so _cute_ when she got all proud and satisfied.

"True," she agreed, and hummed contentedly as she was hugged a little tighter; the reins hanging loosely from her fingers as she allowed her eyes to slip shut and just enjoyed the complete, unguarded closeness they could display out here – about half an hour's ride from the edges of the city and out of the view of any prying eyes. "I'm sure you're more than up for whatever tonight throws at us."

"As long as you're involved somehow, I'm willing to take part in just about anything," was the warm confirmation next to her ear. It was followed by a chuckle when she wiggled happily in her seat – just a little.

"Glad to hear it." She tilted her head back to kiss a soft cheek before straightening and taking a tighter hold of the reins to guide their mount off to the side. In spite of the rapidly dying sun, the full moon that climbed ever higher in the sky was reflecting off the thick, white layer that covered the ground; providing plenty of silvery light to see by, and giving her no trouble in making out the path that wound through the pines – even if it was covered in at least half a foot of snow.

"Almost there," Anna observed a few moments later, when there was the expanse of glittering openness beyond the trees and the brush of a heretofore unnoticed, cold wind that made her pull her thick cloak tighter around the front of her body even as she cast a glance at the needle-lined branches that were hanging a good deal closer to the ground due to the weight heaped on them by the winter weather. "Watch your head."

"I'm not _that_ disused to riding," came the dry response. Then there was a noticeable pause, and as they cleared the treeline and entered fully into the breezy, open space, she felt the arms around her middle clench a little, and heard the high pitch of a hitched breath. "Is this-"

She smiled at the view herself; a small, frozen lake settled between the trees and surrounding mountains, with its glittering surface swept bare of snow by the wind that was tugging at their clothing even now. "Where mama and papa used to take us, yes." Without any concern, she released the reins entirely and slid her gloved hands under the cloak; covering the bare ones on her own waist as the horse obediently came to a halt. "And where I _used_ to remember you teaching me to skate and build snowmen. I thought maybe we could do both of those for real tonight."

Elsa didn't respond verbally; she merely held her so tight that breathing became a little difficult, and pressed her forehead against the side of Anna's hood-shielded face.

That, she decided with a soft smile, was absolutely fine, because when her sister lost the ability to speak and just reacted, it meant that she'd hit the dead-center of the bulls-eye. So she stayed silent as well, and let herself sink into sensation rather than sound; to really, truly _feel_ the arms around the waist, the body pressed against her back and the slightly ragged exhales that were warming the hood of her cloak without any distractions.

Then the hands under her own slid free, and the thick fabric shielding her head was tugged back enough for warm, soft lips to touch her cheek.

"You," Elsa whispered against her skin. "Are an absolute romantic."

Anna laughed softly as she slid from the saddle with practiced ease, and then turned to hold a hand out to her sister. "With you, how could I possibly be anything else?" She smiled – both at the feeling of slim fingers clasping her own and at the sight of the faint blush – and then moved one foot back to steel herself as Elsa, too, turned. While she wasn't strong enough to set the queen on her feet under her own power, she could at least provide something for her to lean on; a measure of support that made the - for the older woman – less familiar process of dismounting significantly easier.

She was doubly glad to have done so a few heartbeats later, because from the moment Elsa's warmly booted feet sank into the snow, she only had a scant second to appreciate the way the moonlight colored her eyes a sparkling silver. Then, soft fingers were cupping her face, and warm lips claimed her own in a long, slow exploration that was almost enough to make her knees buckle.

"Whoa..." It took a surprising amount of effort for her to remember to breathe when they parted, and she had to clear her throat a few times. "Remind me to do that again," she then muttered, and rubbed her thumbs over the velvety fabric that covered Elsa's hips.

"Which part?" was the amused reply, which came with the almost teasing touch of warm exhales over her own mouth, and a twinkle in very familiar eyes while soft fingertips trailed fluttering touches over her cheeks. "The ride here, or the kiss?"

"Uh... yes." The laugh made her smile, and she caught those lips again just to feel their silkiness one more time. "Both," she murmured against them as their breaths mingled. "And anything else that'll land me a similar response."

"Don't be silly." She felt Elsa's lips shape a smile of their own, and the hands were pushing her fur-lined hood back entirely so arms could wind loosely around her neck. "The only thing you have to do is be yourself."

"Hm." Anna slid her own arms around her sister's waist, and brushed the tip of her nose against a pale cheek. "Even when I lean over your desk to kiss you and spill ink all over your papers?"

"Especially then," came the fond reply next to her ear, and even in the frosty air, the summery scent of Elsa's skin was pleasantly familiar. "The fact that you can show your feelings so easily is one of the things I love most about you."

There was definitely heat rising in her cheeks now, she decided, but it came with a lightness that – for a brief moment – made her feel as if her heart was about to burst. It felt so _good_ that her eyes were stinging from it, and she pressed her face into the blue-clad shoulder while tender fingers stroked the back of her neck. Something about this just felt so right that for a single, oddly timeless moment, she swore that they'd stood like this before; in this embrace, with this love between them and in a similar, moonlit winter night, even though she knew that they couldn't have. That brief knowing, though, was strong enough to send a shiver down her back that Elsa had to have felt.

"You're not cold, are you?" came the inquiry next to her ear as if on cue, and she chuckled when the edges of an additional, thick cloak were wrapped around her before she could even open her mouth to reply.

"I'm fine," she promised, but leaned a little more into the embrace anyway. "You always keep me warm, remember?"

"I think it's more likely to be the other way around," Elsa noted amusedly, and while she couldn't see it at the moment, Anna knew her sister managed to effortlessly reiterate her point simply with how her breath misted a good deal less than the average, to the point of it almost being invisible even in the cold that surrounded them as night fell fully.

"You're missing my point a little, I think," she informed her wryly as she straightened enough to place a kiss on the curve of her sister's jaw. "Elsa, anyone can warm a body - that's just physicality. It takes love to warm a heart, and to warm _my_ heart, it takes you."

"... oh." There was the definite sensation of a glowing blush against her own cheek, followed by a slight weight against her temple as Elsa's head leaned on hers. "I suppose you warm me up in much the same way, then."

She could've teased her, and was honestly pretty tempted to, as well. At the same time, though, she also just wanted to bask in the fact that she'd managed to apparently catch the ever-unflappable queen off-guard. It happened so rarely, and certainly never around others; in those situations, Elsa's royal persona was so firmly in place that she'd have to do something _quite_ overt to break through it, and while that blush was easily enough to drive her to distraction, it wasn't enough to make her wound the at times very tender pride in front of company.

For that reason, all Anna did was press another kiss to the soft skin, and then pulled back enough to let their foreheads touch.

"So..." She nimbly changed the subject and met the clear gaze with an inquisitive lift of her own eyebrows. "What do you want to do first? There's food and drink in the saddle bags, and enough supplies to build a small fire if we need to, but if you prefer, we can start off with a skating lesson or-"

"Wait." Two fingers against her lips, and a brief, oddly vulnerable look that made the skin at the outside edges of Elsa's eyes strain faintly. "I think it's my turn to ask, hm?"

"...oh," she breathed against the digits, and felt even that light touch restrain her sudden smile a little. "Um, sure."

Her acquiescence was all it took for that heartbreakingly beautiful face to relax, and Elsa's smile was warm as she took a step back and extended one hand; palm up. "Then, Your Highness-" The blue-turned-silver eyes regarded her warmly. "-would you like to build a snowman with me?"

Surely, this grin was going to split her face in half. "I'd love to," she agreed as she caught the hand and – with a bow because attempting a curtsey in several inches of snow was a chancy proposition at best – touched her lips to its knuckles. "My Queen."

The hand shifted to lift her back up with the faintest hint of pressure below her chin, and for a long moment, they just stood there closely; cloaks moving gently in the wind, smiles matching and pale and copper hair brushing together – eyes open, and hearts entwined.

xXxXx

**Notes:**  
>Written for Elsannity Week on Tumblr, for the Thursday prompt <em>Date Night<em> (170714).

These things are getting _longer_, people! That's not good when I've got absolutely nothing prepared in advance and a day to complete them. Ah, well.


	5. Sneaking Kisses

For disclaimers, please see part one.

**Warnings:**  
>Wincesticest, and suggestive (though again, not outright sexual) situations.

Enjoy.

**Sneaking Kisses**

* * *

><p>In the kitchens, it happens late at night and is initiated by Anna. Anna, who can trick her into acquiescence even in the dead of night with that woebegone expression and that sad little pout of her lips, and has her out of bed and descending the stairs to the bottom floor of the castle in a matter of minutes; one warm hand in her own, and mind idly examining the need to make her happy that seems to be the driving force behind everything in her life at this point.<p>

Anna looks so innocent when she boosts herself to a seat on the counter by the stove; bare feet drumming idly against wooden, cupboard doors, long hair loose to fall in rumpled waves around her shoulders, just-a-touch-of-green, turquoise eyes a little blurry with sleep and even, white teeth glinting in the low, flickering light of the candles they've lit when she smiles. She almost looks like she did over ten years ago when they sometimes did the same thing and Elsa had initially learned how to mix the ingredients in just the right way, and even now, neither of them cares if it's too warm for hot drinks or too late for sugar or if they'll be up for hours after this, because it's a time solely for them and that's the only thing that matters.

Elsa tells her that she could learn how to do this herself – that she'd be happy to teach her - and Anna shakes her head and settles their foreheads together once the pot can mind itself for a bit and she's pulled Elsa closer. She says that she could, but she doesn't want to because she never wants to _not_ need her for something as simple and special as this, and Elsa kind of knows it's coming but still melts a little inside when she hears it.

They share the mug and whisper in hushed tones as it passes back and forth between their hands and Anna's legs wrap around her robe-covered waist. They don't need to when it's well after midnight and they're probably the only ones even awake, but it makes everything feel just a little more private with Anna's fingers stroking through her hair and her eyes closing with a muffled giggle when Elsa's fingers find her satin-clad waistline and tickle.

When the kiss happens Anna's lips taste of chocolate, and that's appropriate because she's the sweetest, richest thing in Elsa's life.

xXxXx

When it happens in the stables in the middle of the day, it's still Anna's initiation and Elsa can't find the breath or the presence of mind to object because it's honestly kind of thrilling in an altogether different way. Anna's face is flushed with exertion after a long ride and she looks so unfairly attractive in riding boots and breeches and a dark green jacket that when the grooms take her horse away and they're left alone in a little, sheltered corner, Elsa doesn't care that Anna's bare fingers are dusty and crumpling the front of her dress, or that her back is being pressed against a rough, wooden wall.

She only cares about the absolute vibrancy of those eyes that are always so joyous after experiencing the wild feeling of rushing wind and thundering hoofbeats, about the warm, slightly sweaty skin under her fingers and the small, almost incredulous little smile on those lips when their bodies press close enough to make her face flush, too. Anna's nose is brushing against hers, and she smells of sweet grass and bruised leaves and horseflesh and maybe, just maybe some of all the happiness she sees in those beautiful eyes is caused by her and not by the ride.

Without Elsa even speaking, Anna is whispering against her lips how much she missed her even for those few hours, and she closes her eyes as their mouths meet and holds her as close as she possibly can, because no one should make her want to offer up the world at their feet without so much as a by your leave.

But Anna does, and Elsa wonders if she even knows it.

xXxXx

In the castle halls, it's more of an even spread. Sometimes it's Anna grabbing her by the elbow and pulling her into one of many empty rooms without even a glance over her shoulder and only a cheeky, happy grin on her face as the door closes behind them. Sometimes Elsa finds herself having to hide both a startled squeak and a giggle as she's swiftly yanked behind a curtain and suddenly has her arms so full of Anna that it's all she can do to remember how to breathe. Sometimes it's during the day and maybe a little too daring because the castle isn't _that_ empty, and sometimes it's during the night and entire floors are so abandoned aside from the two of them that she doesn't bother to muffle the soft sound she makes when Anna's teeth nip at her lips.

At other times, it's Elsa who catches a hold of a smooth, bare arm and either pulls or pushes, and sometimes they're alone enough that she doesn't have to do either and can just touch and kiss gently in the middle of the hall while they stand right in the path of a beam of brilliant sunlight with Anna's arms around her shoulders and warm fingertips sliding over her scalp. Sometimes Elsa waits right outside the door to her study where she can duck between two suits of armor until Anna comes along, and sneaks up on her with a smirk on her face that becomes a grin when she grabs onto Anna and hears the laugh, because _of course_ Anna knew she was there, and _of course_ she plays along anyway because playtime is something they've both missed out on a lot of.

Sometimes it isn't even supposed to happen _in_ the hall, but it does anyway because Anna is so beautiful that it makes her chest ache and she's absolutely sure that if she has to wait one more second to kiss her, her heart is simply going to burst. Those are nice times too, because that's when those pale eyes widen in genuine surprise only to narrow again with a grin as Anna's fingers press into the small of her back, and all she can do is push _closer_ to both Anna and the wall she's got her pinned to, even if she knows somewhere that there's no such thing as close _enough_.

Anna never worries about what might happen if they get caught, and day by day, Elsa can feel herself growing less and less concerned about the same thing, because she's starting to realize that as long as she has Anna, she has everything she could ever dream of.

xXxXx

When Elsa is working, Anna really does an admirable job of not seeking her out, and instead spends her time on her own responsibilities or out in the city with Olaf or Kristoff. There are days where Elsa asks her to stay while she works and they're growing increasingly more frequent - not necessarily because she wants to touch her, but because Anna's presence makes it easier for her to focus and brings a level of peace to her thoughts that she's never managed to attain before, and that's the case whether she's working at Elsa's side or just half-laying on the couch under the window with a book in her hands.

She needs Anna like she needs air, and she's slowly becoming more and more hopeful that Anna might just feel the same, because although she never _asks_ if Elsa wants her to stay with her that day, she always says yes when asked herself with a look in her eyes that warms even Elsa's colder-than-average body from head to toe. Anna says yes like doing paperwork or reading documents or books on Arendelle's past is the only thing she's ever wanted to do, and Elsa thinks that while that's definitely not true, maybe Anna is saying yes like that because she feels that even boring stuff becomes fun when Elsa's around.

She hopes she's right because that's how she feels herself, and so she begins to sit by her on the couch when she's just reading and letting Anna's head rest in her lap. It's even more relaxing to have soft, copper hair under one hand as she works and hear the occasional hum or giggle from Anna depending on what she's doing, and within fifteen minutes of sitting like that Elsa's smiling even though the paper in her other hand is another veiled insult-slash-trade offer from Weselton, because she can always move it just a little to the side to look down, and when she does Anna looks back up at her right away and smiles that smile of hers that makes her eyes all warm and gentle, and sometimes catches her hand to kiss it.

Then Elsa decides to kiss her in here, because when Anna looks at her like that something inside her just hurts in the best possible way, and the most perfect accent to that emotional feeling is the more physical one of having Anna in her lap, Anna's arms around her neck and Anna's warm mouth on her own. One day she just starts crying into the kiss and kind of makes Anna freak out a little until she explains that it's only because she feels so _good_ that it's too much for her body to contain.

Anna looks at her for several seconds with the slowest, sweetest smile as if she understands, and then kisses her again.

Elsa's not entirely sure when she first fell in love, but she realizes that that's what this feeling is.

xXxXx

The first time it happens in the bedroom, Elsa's also the one to initiate it even if Anna's the one coming into her room. She doesn't want to sneak into the kitchen to make hot chocolate this time, but just crawls into the bed and curls into Elsa's arms with a content little sigh and a low whisper of missing her even though it's only been a few hours since they said goodnight. Elsa doesn't mind and just buries her nose in Anna's hair with a happy exhale of her own, and waits in patient silence while fingers pluck at the side of her shift and slightly elevated – nervous? - breaths warm the top of her chest.

Then her vision is filled with clear turquoise and the color is flickering a little as if Anna can't quite decide where to look, and she's muttering something about thinking she might just be in love and is that weird? Elsa feels her heart skip several beats in a row and just stares at her for long moments until she reminds herself to breathe, and now she's the one giving that slow, sweet smile when she tells her that no, it's the best thing she's ever heard and Anna is the one to start crying when she burrows back into her arms because it's just too much happiness to hold in.

They end up going a little further than just kissing that night, and Elsa learns that she can heat up quite a bit under Anna's hands to the point of feeling as if she's melting outright. She also discovers that Anna makes the most wonderful, breathy noises when she drags her lips over that one spot below her ear, and that the sensation of those legs wrapping around her hips or waist when Anna is beneath her sends pleasant bolts down her spine that are at once similar to and different from the ones she feels when Anna's sitting in front of her and doing the same thing. She thinks it might be the distinct decrease in clothing between them and the feeling of warm, freckled skin under her hands, or maybe the sureness of knowing that Anna is hers as much as she is Anna's.

Whatever it is, Elsa loves it almost as much as she loves Anna and kisses her deeper and harder than she ever has before, and then groans into her mouth when Anna arches against her and pulls her down more firmly all at the same time. Lightly freckled hands are cupping her face and there are fingertips pressing into her cheeks and jaw and then deep, darkened eyes staring into her own while warm, stuttering breathing washes over her chin and lips.

Elsa doesn't want to sleep alone anymore, and neither does Anna.

So they don't.

xXxXx

**Notes:**  
>This is posting later than previous parts, but I had a bit of a time and sorta ended up ragequitting my day because pissed off is no state to be in when writing fluff. Thankfully I have an awesome best friend who I went out with for Irish coffee, hard cider, hard lemonade and three hours of random convo on about ten minutes of notice, so I finished this chapter somewhat less than sober in the middle of the night. Fun!<p>

Different style and tense this time; more of a train-of-thought kinda thing, but I think it works for the content.

Again, this was written for Elsannity Week on Tumblr (where I can be found, too), for the Friday prompt _Sneaking Kisses_ (180714). I guess this could be seen as a prequel of sorts to the preceding, four parts?


	6. Mirror

For disclaimers, please see part one.

**Warnings:**  
>Icest, suggestive themes, and I'm adding <em>fluff<em> as a warning because this thing is growing progressively more cavity-inducing with every chapter, and is kicking _me_ in the feels at this point.

Enjoy.

**Mirror**

* * *

><p>"Did you enjoy yourself?" Elsa heard the odd echo of her own voice as it bounced back and forth between the walls; slightly muffled by the gentle slosh of water and Anna's idle, contented humming. She was perched on a padded stool at the head end of the large tub; leaning over it a little with her sleeves pushed up past her elbows and her hands slowly working her sister's long, fiery hair into a honey-scented froth of bubbles.<p>

"You know I did." She couldn't see Anna's grin because the tanned back was curving just a fraction forward in front of her, but she could hear the warmth in her voice and feel the faint pull of skin under her own fingers when she gently lathered the soft hair at Anna's temples. "I still like the open gates, and balls even more so."

Elsa chuckled, and tugged a little on the copper locks to get Anna to lean back against the end of the tub. "Especially ones thrown in your honor, I'd imagine." There was motion that set lazy waves to lapping at the sides of the tub, and then a single, turquoise eye was peering guilelessly up at her while she massaged the top and front of her sister's scalp and smiled. "Happy birthday again, by the way."

Now, she could see the white of Anna's teeth – the ends of them just barely showing behind her lips as the younger woman laughed upwards into the misty air. "Thank you, again," was the amused response as the eye slid shut. "How many times have you said that today?"

_Eighteen, so far._

"Not quite enough," she returned teasingly, and smirked at the sight of a pink tongue sticking out into the air above Anna's face. "Did you turn nineteen or nine?"

"Ha ha." A glistening hand left the steaming water with a trickle of droplets sliding over bare skin, and reached blindly but accurately up and back to tweak her nose. "You think you're so clever."

"I could make it a law for you to have to laugh at my jokes, you know."

"Hmm." The hand and its fingers slipped wetly over the side of her face, and Elsa turned her head just enough to kiss the palm before it sunk back into the tub. "You could. Or you could just actually_ be_ funny."

"Now who's being clever?" Carefully, she scooped water into her bare hands and let it trickle over Anna's head to rinse the soap from her hair; letting the instinctive smile bloom on her own lips as she just enjoyed the sight before her. Anna was, of course, completely naked beneath the slowly shifting, slightly whitish-opaque water, and her knees were poking into the humid air while misting liquid lapped indolently at the tops of her breasts due to her reclined position. Her eyes were closed to let long, dark lashes curl above the tops of her cheeks, a faint flush already there from the heat in the room and slow, relaxed breaths stirring the steam in the air as she breathed.

"I'm not even going to dignify that with a response." Anna's lips quirked, and her eyes opened when she presumably noticed the shadow Elsa's head was casting as the queen finished her rinsing and leaned over her. "Aside from 'I'm not even going to dignify that with a response'."

She smiled into that warm, teasing look, and moved forward a little further while her hands settled on the freckled shoulders and her lower arms came to rest on the edges of the tub. "You're going to get yourself caught in a rambling loop if you keep that up," she returned, and idly appreciated the variety of the upside-down view of Anna's face that she was currently getting.

"That's okay." Teal eyes twinkled as Anna grinned, and the shoulders under her hands shrugged with a low slosh. "You know how to bring me out of that if it happens."

Elsa chuckled at that, and bent her head to place a light kiss on the tip of her sister's nose. "That I do."

"Sure about that?" A copper eyebrow was quirking at her, and two damp fingers caught the lock of hair that had slipped from her braid and wound it around themselves. "'Cause you just missed."

"Oh?" She shifted back enough that she was looking into Anna's eyes again, and ran a slow fingertip up the side of her throat. "That sounds like a bit of a challenge – faces are hardly meant to meet that way."

A low hum was the initial reply, with those eyes slipping shut at her touch and those lips quirking into a smile. "You can do it."

"_We_," she softly corrected, and watched Anna's head tilt a little to one side as she leaned forward and cast the full shadow of her own face and bangs over her once again. "... can do anything."

Then Elsa was angling her head as well and finding the smiling lips from her upside-down position; they were warmer than normal from the temperature, slid against her own even more easily because of the gentle mist and tasted faintly of the sweet, mild wine she'd offered to her not that long ago – when there had been the quiet roar of the crowd around them and the sound of Anna's laughter from a particularly energetic dance with an elderly, but surprisingly nimble baron of something or other.

The goblet she'd handed over had been her own, and Anna had to have known that, because she'd taken great care to find the right spot in which to fit her lips over its rim.

A wet hand was reaching up again; water-warmed fingertips slipping over the tendons in her throat as Anna's breathing moistened her mouth, and the tip of her tongue almost felt cool amidst all the heat when it flicked out and upwards over her lower lip. Slowly, Elsa slid return touches over slick, smooth skin and let herself sink into the light, lingering contact as she immersed her arms almost to their elbows, and felt the shifting of subtle muscle under her hands.

"See?" Anna murmured when they parted, with the red in her cheeks a little deeper than it had been earlier. "Toldja."

"Mm." She kissed her again, and then brushed her lips over the damp cheek before straightening. "I should listen to you more often."

"Ooo." The water splashed again when Anna started laughing. "I want that in writing."

"Cute." Elsa tapped a fingertip against the freckled nose, and quirked an eyebrow in fond exasperation as she smiled into the not-quite-green, not-quite-blue gaze. "Now – stay where you are. I'll be back in a moment."

"You're spoiling me," was the observation as she stood, but Anna's arms were settling on the edges of the tub and she sounded more lazily content than anything else, so Elsa merely chuckled and stepped into the adjoining bedroom – her own, because the queen's chambers were larger and more lavish.

_Still plenty of time_, she noted with a glance at a nearby clock, and ran her still-wet fingers through her bangs as she made a thirty-something-degree turn over to the large closet and – with a wave of her hand – undid the icy bands holding her hair in place. Another wave dispersed her gown and left her nude in the moonlit room, and she tasted the chilly, autumn air from the halfway-opened window on the back of her tongue as she tugged the heavy, closet doors open and selected the item she'd decided on the moment she'd started planning; a simple, shift-like article of clothing in perfect white, with thin shoulder straps and barely enough length to cover her to mid-thigh.

Anna liked her in white, perhaps because it was so rare for her to wear anything in that shade since it was the color used for weddings, and she certainly also seemed to have a fondness for her legs. So with this, Elsa decided with a smile as the satiny fabric settled over her body, she could achieve two goals with one garment – even if that garment dipped a good deal lower than she was used to.

It was after – among other things - a softly mumbled reiteration of Kai's lessons on lighting a fire and a stern 'No peeking!' that had resulted in a muffled squeak and a sharp splash from the next room that she settled back on her haunches with a sigh, and regarded the now cheerfully snapping flames in the fireplace benignly. It was a decidedly cold, late autumn night, and while she herself was pretty much immune to such things, her sister was not. Anna was warmth _personified_; from coloring to voice to smile to demeanor to the size of her eternally loving heart, and that warmth was something Elsa wanted to protect above all else. So here she was – on a thick, butter-soft rug in front of a crackling fire, with large, fluffy pillows spread around her, a bowl of chocolates secured hours ago and kept cool by her own powers, and a blanket resting off to the side, just in case.

"Elsa?" Anna called from the bathroom, and she snuck a glance around the doorframe to see that her sister's eyes were closed. "I'm kinda pruning. Can I come out?"

"Yes," she replied from the side of the room she was currently in, and then soundlessly slipped over to the other; silently closing the open window and returning before Anna could glance towards the door. "I have a towel in here."

"You're up to something," came the accusation over the sound of splashing and bare, wet feet meeting stone-tiled floor. "Well... something _else_."

_I need to find new ways of getting anything past her in the future_, Elsa considered as she collected a large, soft towel from the closet and – after another peek into the next room to make sure that Anna wasn't looking right this moment – slipped past the door to wait on the side that the younger woman hopefully wouldn't be looking towards when she entered, since that wasn't where she'd projected her voice from. _She knows me too well_.

_And don't I just love the fact that she does,_ she mused as she leaned against the wall beside the door with a half-grin; cast in shadow as she waited and listened to the movements and affectionate grumblings from the bathroom.

"I can hear the fire," Anna pointed out, and her ears picked up the plod of footsteps even though the sound of her sister's voice growing closer was indication enough. "Really, Elsa, that's sweet but not necessary. It's not that c-" The wryly fond speech halted right alongside the footsteps when she had taken two steps into the bedroom and looked up, and although Anna was facing the fire and therefore had her back turned to Elsa, the slight, stunned dip of her shoulders was visible even if the younger woman's breath hadn't escaped her in a sudden, slow rush of air. "... oh."

Anna, she decided for anything but the first time, had a beautiful back. Her shoulders were slim but made wider by a subtle cord of muscle, and the slow, V-like taper towards her narrow waist could possibly have made the artists of ancient, Grecian times weep with more envy than even the gentle flare of her hips or the smooth expanse of her long legs. While she was fully naked at the moment, Elsa still couldn't see the freckles that she knew dotted the tanned skin in ever-wider patterns until they petered off just below her shoulderblades, but that was because Anna's hair was loose and wet and cascaded down her back in a natural, perfectly smooth curtain that had turned almost chestnut from moisture and low lighting.

The arms, Elsa noted as she silently stepped closer, were rising; one curling across the slender ribcage and the other continuing higher until its hand reached her face.

Wordlessly, she draped the towel over Anna's shoulders and teased the long hair out from under it with gentle fingers, then pressed a light kiss to the point where warm skin touched both jaw and throat. "Is this alright?" she questioned while her lips lingered there and she felt the subtle bob of a thick swallow – not that she was particularly concerned about Anna actually saying no, but it was always preferable to be certain.

"Is it al-" The incredulous repetition was muffled by her sister's own hand and cut off by a shaky laugh, and Elsa straightened to wrap her arms – and with them, the towel – around the front of the exposed body as Anna leaned back against her in easy familiarity. "You do know I have a birthday every year, right?" A warm forehead came to rest against her cheek, and the hand lowered from pink lips to rest on her own arm. "You don't have to pull out _all_ the stops for this one; not that I don- _wow_, Elsa; a ball and a bath and now this?"

"I think I can dig out more 'stops' if I need to," she whispered, and touched softly smiling lips to Anna's forehead as she surveyed the scene from the corner of her eye and felt a slow, content sigh wash over her skin. "You, if anyone, deserve to be spoiled in every way that I can possibly think of."

There was no verbal reply – just the flutter of eyelashes caressing her face, the sensation of ribs moving a little jaggedly under her arms, and the pads of soft fingers pressing into her skin as Anna swallowed audibly.

"We're both busy," she explained quietly, and heard the low, trembling laugh of agreement when satiny lips came up to press against her jaw. "And I worry sometimes that I don't make enough effort to show you exactly how much you mean to me. You..." She took a breath, and inhaled the honeyed scent of damp skin and hair. "You're a natural romantic, Anna – you have such a big, wonderful heart, and every single thing you do for me - to me - _with me_, shows me that you love me. I want to spend more time like this; just loving you, and trying to make you feel the way you make _me_ feel, because you are _everything_ to me, and I don't ever want you to doubt that."

"I don't," was the hoarse promise, and there was wetness on the freckled cheeks that had nothing to do with bath water as Elsa gently guided her over to the pillows and to a seat amongst them. "I never have."

"Gratified as I am to hear that-" She pressed a gentle kiss to the crown of the dark head – more fiery now that they were fully in front of the fire and lit by its golden glow. "-I hope you won't mind that I make certain, all the same."

"No, no... by all means." Anna's voice still sounded a bit overwhelmed, and her head was moving a little as she looked around; still clad in only the towel, but modestly covered by it. "Literally, apparently._"_

"Anything worth doing," Elsa quoted sagely as she straightened and crossed around Anna to drop to her knees in front of her on the pillows. "Is worth _over_doing."

"Uh..." The younger woman was taking in her appearance – thus far shielded by her own back – with a rather slack-jawed expression that Elsa had to work really, _really_ hard not to smirk at. "... hi?"

"Hi, me?" she questioned softly, and let her head cant just a tad coquettishly; pale hair intentionally spilling over her exposed shoulder as she watched the slow, appreciative grin take form. "You did say that you liked me in white."

"Oh, yeah," Anna breathed, and blatantly looked her up and down while tanned fingers curled into the edges of the pale towel. "In fact, I'll have to correct that to me saying that I _love_ you in white – well, in any color, really, including none, but _definitely_ in white, too."

"Good." Smoothly, and with enough room in the satiny fabric to let it curve to cover her, Elsa shifted until she had her legs loosely wrapped around Anna, with her knees bracketing the towel-clad waist and the sensation of toned calves against her own thighs. Then another shift, and she was straddling Anna's lap fully and lifting herself onto her knees above her with a very open, very breathless look aimed her way from deep eyes that had turned almost purple in the firelight. "One thing, though."

"Uh..." Anna's jaw was hanging open again, and her gaze didn't quite seem to know where to settle first; flickering from bare legs to naked shoulders to thick, fair hair to exposed cleavage, and she didn't outright respond until Elsa – with a smile that she just couldn't hold back – gently pushed at the underside of her chin with a single fingertip. "Huh? Oh! … y-yeah?"

"In spite of this-" Elsa purposely injected a note of seriousness into her voice as she gestured to first herself, then their surroundings, because she didn't want this to be in doubt. "I don't _expect_ anything; do you understand?" Gently, she cupped Anna's lightly flushed face in both hands, and waited until she both felt and saw a small nod. "This is about _you_, and what _you_ want - if you want me as part of that, that's perfectly fine, but I want to make it absolutely clear that the _reverse_ is just as true." She ducked her head enough for their foreheads to touch, and could feel the twitching in the shoulders she then settled her hands on while her voice dropped to a bare whisper. "I'm yours, and I love you. That means I'll be whatever you want me to be – always."

A soft, still-breathless sound came from Anna's throat; high-pitched and hoarse at the same time.

"So..." She selected a small piece of confectionery and touched it to Anna's lips with a gentle smile; noting from the corner of her eye that it was almost midnight. "For the nineteenth and final time: happy birthday."

Anna's eyes were wide and shining with adoration, and for once, she didn't seem the least bit interested in chocolate. That, however, Elsa decided as she fell back into the pillows with a warm, bare body on top of her and smooth legs twining with her own, was perfectly alright by her.

Those trembling lips were sweet enough in their own right.

xXxXx

**Notes:**  
>Re: The birthday placement – Elsa's birthday is presumably in summer due to the mention of her coming of age at the start of the movie, and the haha-very-funny of someone with ice powers being born during the warmest season; people seem to like that sort of thing. (See: Kuga Natsuki, the 'Ice Princess' from Mai HIME – born in mid-August.) Can't find a darn thing about Anna's though, so I decided that if ice powers = summer birth, then fresh, warm (spring-like) personality = autumn birth. Profit?<p>

Written for Elsannity Week on Tumblr, for the Saturday prompt _Romantic Evening_ (190714), and the chapter title should suggest which song I was listening to while writing (unless you came here _from_ Tumblr, in which case you hopefully already know).


	7. Sick Day

For disclaimers, please see part one.

**Warnings:**  
>Icest, though a really mild variety this time. No angst, but there is a bit of... wistfulness?<p>

Enjoy.

**Sick Day**

* * *

><p>"Princess?"<p>

"Huh?" Anna's head jerked up from where she'd been resting it against the high back of her chair, and she blinked a few times to clear her vision before she recognized the man in the door. "Physician Alvers – come in, come in." She waved a hand at him, and surveyed the cluttered, candlelit desk in front of her with a muffled groan. _How does Elsa _**_do_**_ this every day?_

"Your Highness." The elderly man bowed his acquiescence before entering; wide pale sleeves practically swirling around his lanky form as he crossed the room. "How do you do?"

Anna looked at him, and let her eyes narrow as she saw the tiny signs of amusement in his weathered face. "I'll be much better when my sister is well, Roar," she sighed, and folded her hands on top of a few papers. "Please, sit. I haven't seen her since this morning - how is she?"

Obligingly, Roar Alvers folded his tall frame into a chair in front of her, and settled one knee over the other. "Bettering, Highness," he promised, and smiled a little when Anna closed her eyes in relief. "Her temperature is dropping back to what constitutes normal levels for her, though I daresay she should spend a few more days resting, with how exhausted she was when I spoke to her."

At that, she had to grin – tired as it was. "As long as you tell her that too, so I'm not the only one trying to reason with her." She waited for him to smother his smile at that, and idly fiddled with a pen. "Have you-" She groaned, and tried to gather her thoughts. "What happened? I don't remember Elsa ever getting sick before."

"Ah." Roar shifted a little in his seat, and the warm lighting lent a deeper glow to his brown eyes. "Well, Princess, the queen has spent the better part of her life with very little human contact – more than that, what contact she had was usually through gloves. With that in mind, she's suffered very little exposure to things that others would come into contact with daily – germs, bacteria and such – and so my estimation is that now, her body is ill prepared to fight what infections she does encounter."

"So she's more... susceptible, you think." Anna digested the information; one hand drumming against the surface of the desk as her gaze flitted thoughtfully around the room. "Is it permanent? I really don't want her to have to wear those gloves again."

"I doubt it," was the soothing reply. "Over time, she will most likely adjust back to more regular levels of tolerance. I will, however, recommend a few precautions over the next while to help her ease into things."

"Like what?"

"For large crowds where she expects plenty of contact, the gloves probably would be a good idea – at least for a few months." Roar's expression was halfway apologetic, so all she could really do was sigh and nod her head. "A little extra care taken from people close to her over the next few weeks, perhaps. For instance, with the amount of hands that have touched those papers, I would recommend that you wash your own before initiating any form of physical contact with the queen."

_Stop that!_ Anna scolded herself as she felt the telltale signs of her cheeks wanting to flush. _Keep your head on – he meant it in a perfectly innocent way!_

"Princess?" Roar's voice now had a tinge of nervousness to it, which was unusual – he'd been the royal physician since before Anna was even born, and they usually spoke very informally with each other. "I meant no offense, I assure you."

"No offense taken," she promised him. _Just my own imagination getting in the way_. "I'll make sure to wash my hands before telling her goodnight."

"Hm." The brown eyes were regarding her steadily. "Might I suggest one more thing, then?"

"Sure."

"Say goodnight now." The deep voice was wry. "And then go to bed. If you keep on exhausting yourself like this, you'll fall ill, too."

Anna glowered at him, but he just chuckled. Well, she _had_ been using the same look on him since she was four years old; chances were that it had worn off a while back, if it had ever worked to begin with.

"Okay." She met his eyes evenly, and nodded. "I'll head off to sleep myself within half an hour – I promise."

"I think that's the best I can hope for," Roar commented as he rose from his seat and – after another bow – walked towards the door. "The two of you could be cut from the same cloth. Goodnight, Your Highness."

"We're sisters; we _were_ cut from the same cloth," Anna muttered at the silent doorway, and shook her head before dropping her gaze back to the papers in front of her. _Except for in this area, apparently._ With a sigh, she started leafing through the documents and dispersed them into three, individual stacks bit by bit as she continued to wonder at exactly how Elsa managed to take care of all this – or rather, this and then some, since Anna spent each morning delegating the tasks that didn't specifically need her attention.

Anna had been taking care of things pertaining to the rule of the kingdom since their parents had passed away, but with Elsa as the heir apparent, the better part of the work had always fallen to her; she was, after all, the one who needed to know the most about it. Now, after having insisted when Elsa first fell ill that yes, she could take care of this on top of her own duties, Anna was getting a very good understanding of how much work her sister's title actually came with, and she'd only been covering for her for a few days.

Her respect for Elsa was climbing higher by the minute. Respect, admiration and... maybe something else. Something she had only ever admitted to herself, because there wasn't really anyone she could talk to about the fact that she was falling for her older sister except for maybe Joan, and she was pretty sure that even the painting had tired of the subject of Elsa at this point.

It was a very helpless feeling, she reflected as she stood, and secured a candle before leaving the study. Not really in a bad way - although the heavens knew that Elsa's mere presence was enough to turn her into a babbling, clumsy mess – but in a very odd, half-frightening, half-exhilarating manner that made her heart speed up when Elsa laughed, or her palms grow sweaty when there was a cool hand on her shoulder or a warm smile aimed her way. It left her scatterbrained and distracted to the point where she'd just stop in the middle of reading or talking or writing or walking, and stare blankly into space to wonder what her sister was doing, or what she would think of this, or whether she should take Elsa with her into the city next time, or how that particular bit of jewelry or fabric would look against the pale skin.

At least right now, she noted wryly as she gently pushed open the door to the queen's chambers, she was too busy working and worrying to do much of anything else.

The rooms beyond the door – because there were three; sitting, bath and sleeping – were dark and silent, which was to be expected given the lateness of the hour, and while the moon was up and the skies clear, she was still glad to have the fluttering candle in her hand as she navigated from the main door to the simple opening in the wall that separated the sitting area from the bedroom proper. There, she stopped, and just leaned against the wall on one shoulder.

Impossibly, Elsa was more beautiful every time Anna laid eyes on her. Even now – _especially_ now – where she was halfway curled up on her side in a remarkably youthful position in the center of the large bed, face towards the doorway, long waves of silky hair fanning out behind her, clad in satiny, deep-blue pajamas with the covers kicked to the bottom of the bed by her bare feet, and a faint flush tinting her cheeks from the fever that apparently still had a hold on her. The sight alone was enough to make Anna's heart stutter in her chest, and only the physician's words made her bypass the bed in favor of the door to the connected bath on the other side of the room.

Here too, it was dark – more so since there was only a single, small window - and she set the candle down next to the porcelain basin under the mirror before filling it with water from a nearby pitcher as silently as possible. Then one hand found a bar of soap, and the sweet scent of jasmine was released into the air as she scrubbed her hands diligently and – after a thought back to Roar's mention of the papers – her wrists as well, before rinsing them in the basin with a soft, tinkling slosh of water and toweling them dry.

Elsa had turned by the time she made it back into the bedroom, and she smiled to see the silvery strands of hair that had fallen over her face as a result; quietly marveling at what the moonlight did to the normally slightly warmer color as she first set the candle on the nightstand, then seated herself fully on the bed before brushing the long locks back with a gentle touch. The hair was soft and clean beneath her hand because the castle staff had explicit instructions to keep the queen as comfortable as possible, and she carefully collected a handful more to just let it spill between her fingers like ripples of water.

"Mm." The soft sound made her look down, and she saw that the fingers of one, pale hand had curled around the side of her skirt, and were now unconsciously reaching further until they settled on her knee and stayed there.

"You really are out right now, aren't you?" Anna whispered quietly, and settled the backs of her fingers against her sister's forehead. The smooth skin was warm but no more so than her own, which was a definite improvement. "If you weren't, you would've woken up the second I entered." That earned her another hum, and the flitting of slender fingertips over the fabric of her skirt until Elsa's hand was curled around the inside of her knee.

Softly, Anna chuckled. "Yeah, I guess you are," she murmured, and ran her fingers slowly through rumpled, silver-tinted bangs. "So I could probably chicken out and tell you now, rather than when you can actually hear me, hm?" She traced the smooth arc of Elsa's nose with a feather-light touch, and then shifted her fingers to the gentle, satin-covered dip between the queen's shoulderblades when the uncommonly warm forehead moved close enough to press against her hip. "I'm sorry I'm not brave enough to say it to your face yet."

"Hrmmgh." The hand around her knee tightened briefly, and she noticed the faint furrowing of Elsa's brows with a bemused, little smile.

"Leave it to you to tell me off for berating myself even when you're unconscious," she teased, and then almost stopped breathing when the pale forehead relaxed and pushed a little closer. Startled, but utterly charmed, Anna experimentally settled back against the headboard and extended her legs fully; exhaling in silent shock when the blonde head found a comfortable place in her lap and Elsa's hand slid further to let the blue-clad arm curl around both of her legs in a loose embrace.

Inexplicably, the sight both made her smile and brought tears to her eyes, and she sniffed quietly before continuing to run her fingers slowly through the fair hair. "Even when you're down so deep that you probably can't tell left from right, you're taking care of me, huh?" she whispered, and settled her other hand over the satin-covered arm. "You make it almost ridiculously easy for me to fall in love with you... and I do, you know. A little more every day. I see the future every single time I look into your eyes."

Tenderly, she wound a lock of silky hair around her fingers and brought it to her lips. "I'll tell you soon, Elsa; I promise."

A slow, contented sigh warmed the skin of her thigh even through the fabric, and Anna stayed where she was for a long time; a familiar arm around her legs, a gentle, welcome weight in her lap, soft hair between her fingers and her gaze aimed unseeingly out of the moonlit window.

Looking into the future.

xXxXx

**Notes:**  
>I ended up setting this before any actual, romantic involvement between the two of them, though it still ties into the preceding, six parts; it seemed kinda fitting to finish this round (Elsannity Week, <em>Sick Day<em>, 200714) with something from the very start of their relationship.

I'll mark this fic as complete, but probably open it back up when I next end up taking part in something like this. Thanks for reading.


	8. Mistletoe

For disclaimers, please see part one.

**Warnings:  
><strong>Icest.

**Mistletoe**

* * *

><p>In the throne room, Anna's kisses were almost infuriatingly proper. They never lingered longer than maybe a second, and were always light and gentle and perfectly acceptable as displays of affection, even when in public. Elsa understood, but still felt the sting of frustration when most of the time, she dearly wanted to give – or receive – a kiss of the kind that she'd grown used to (even dependent on) getting from Anna.<p>

So she wasn't entirely sure how to react when she – after the audiences were over and the two of them were alone in the massive chamber – suddenly found herself pressed back into her seat by gentle hands with a familiar weight settling across her lap. She wasn't given much time to consider the idea either way, because she had maybe half a second to draw in a startled breath before there were soft lips on her own and warm breath rushing over her skin, and it was all she could do to grab onto Anna's waist or hips or _anything_ before she ended up falling from her seat from sheer sensation.

Then it was over, and by the time Elsa had gotten her head on straight, her erstwhile assailant was across the room by the massive doors. Grinning.

"Anna!" she complained, and flushed when a low chuckle floated her way.

"Mistletoe," Anna sing-songed from the doorway, and then left the room with a waggle of her fingers.

xXxXx

In the kitchens, Anna's kisses were hungry. Hard and firm and fast and devouring, they _took_ and _possessed_ until Elsa's knees were trembling and threatened to unlock entirely. They were fevered and even rough, and accompanied by the feeling of hard, stone walls against the backs of her shoulders and the harsh, audible rushes of Anna's hot breathing against her ear or throat or collarbone.

Usually.

Now, they were fleeting. Proper, light and even _chaste_, and when Elsa finally growled in frustration and pinned Anna to the wall herself, the action only earned her a giggle and the brush of a freckled nose against her own, followed by another, agonizingly gentle kiss.

"Guess there's mistletoe in here, too," Anna murmured, and Elsa could feel her smile against her own mouth.

xXxXx

"You awake?"

"That depends." Elsa cracked one eye open and sent a decidedly wry glance across the top of the pillow to where Anna was stretched out next to her with her head in one hand. "Are you done laying the blame for your teasing me on fictional mistletoe?"

"There was mistletoe every single time," Anna intoned gravely, though there was a glint in her eyes that Elsa usually saw seconds before the younger woman did something particularly Anna-esque. "You just didn't see it."

"I swear, if this is leading into another 'non-sentient ghost' theory-"

Anna's chuckle was part of what cut her off, though the main reason was the leisurely dip of the copper head and the faint brush of lips against her own – so faint, this time, that Elsa found herself rising up when Anna pulled back, just to extend the contact for a few moments longer.

"Look up now," Anna instructed softly, but when Elsa's eyes fluttered open, there was nothing in her field of vision but warm, smiling turquoise. Palest, watery blue in a field of shimmering fire with both colors deepened by the glow of the lamps, and the additional sensation of lightly calloused fingertips slipping over her temple and into her hair in a move so slow and tender that it sent tingles down her spine.

Elsa almost forgot how to breathe.

"Up, Elsa," Anna reminded her with a definite hint of amusement in her voice. "As in, 'towards the ceiling'."

"Brat," Elsa muttered, and cursed the sudden influx of heat to her cheeks even as she smiled at Anna's delighted laughter. "Why do you want me to look up, anyw-" Pause, and then, on the tail-end of a slow exhale: "...oh."

"Mmhm." An audible smile, and the gentle movement of the mattress beneath her as Anna shifted and settled next to her on one elbow – chin held aloft on one, loosely curled fist and pale eyes aimed upwards as well. "I guess even your powers are feeling seasonal." A brief pause, and a crooked grin Elsa could see from the corner of her eye. "Well... more than they already are, but you know what I mean."

Above them was a pure, crystalline swirl; gilded by the lamplight as it moved and swooped in the warm, hickory-scented air. Elsa watched it, breathless, and studied the patterns as she felt Anna's presence move and shift as well. When Anna moved back, the shape started to disperse. When she came closer, it solidified, and when warm lips brushed against the corner of her own mouth, the glittering crystals took on a form that was undeniably mistletoe; leaves and branches crafted from shimmering, blue ice and the characteristic berries from flawless, white snow.

"Beautiful, hm?" came the low murmur not far from her own ear, and Elsa was too enraptured to do anything but nod mutely as Anna settled fully against her side and the mistletoe started gently drizzling tiny flakes of snow that evaporated long before any of them reached the bed. "'Course, that's always the case whenever you're involved."

"Flatterer," Elsa accused, and smiled at the low laugh even as she pulled Anna in again.

xXxXx

In the bedroom, Anna's kisses were passionate; hard or light, lingering or fleeting, giving and taking and coaxing and claiming until Elsa was short of breath and trembling. Until her entire consciousness narrowed to fire and water, to a scent that was cinnamon and honey and pine and chocolate, and to skin that was smoother – softer – than even the fine linens below her fingers or the soft pillows beneath their bodies.

In the bedroom, they never had to hide. So in the bedroom, Anna's kisses always tasted the sweetest.

xXxXx

**Notes:  
><strong>Aaaand, we're back. Yes, I already have _plenty_ of fics to work on. Yes, I'm _still_ going to do my best to write a little something for every day of _Elsanna Week_, too.

This is for 122114 - _Mistletoe_.


	9. Deck the Halls

For disclaimers, please see part one.

**Warnings:  
><strong>_FEELS_ and icest, though the latter is more of the 'subtly hinted at as being maybe-possibly-barely on the horizon' variety (this might actually be the most innocent thing I've ever written o.0). Overall, this fic is also quite bittersweet (see: 'feels'), so watch out for that.

Enjoy, all the same. :)

**Deck the Halls**

* * *

><p>Some of Anna's fondest memories from her childhood were those from the times near christmas. Mama would teach her how to craft her own decorations (folded hearts and stars, lumps of clay hidden beneath pine branches, candles and twigs of holly), and Papa would sit in his large chair and watch them with a smile while he read aloud from a book of short, seasonal stories. Special enough in its own right, but made all the more so by the fact that Elsa would usually join them – a rarity that Anna had only recently understood the cause for. She wouldn't say much, but instead sit quietly across the table, focused on her own creations and only rarely looking up at all, much less directly at Anna.<p>

But she was _there_, still; scant feet away for what sometimes turned out to be hours, and Anna would watch her work and wonder what kind of magic it was that let her sister create the perfection that she did. Elsa's hands surely weren't put together any differently than Anna's own, and yet where Anna usually ended up with jagged edges and clay in her hair, Elsa was spotless and her results utterly flawless. The year Elsa turned eleven, she spent the entire season working on a single thing – twenty elongated triangles of paper in which she cut minuscule, meticulous patterns, and Anna was mesmerized but had no idea what it was even supposed to _be_ until the project was done.

Elsa had seamlessly glued the pieces together at the edges, and the end result – after a favor from a local silversmith and a fine coating of shimmering, tiny metal shavings – had been a hollowed out, five-pointed star that shone gold and silver and refracted the light from any angle. It was large enough to safely hold a tiny candle in its center, sturdy enough – thanks to the metal – to have a spiral of flexible gold added to it, and it had been sitting at the top of the royal family's own christmas tree ever since.

Anna's own decorations never did manage to measure up to Elsa's, but Anna never cared. To her mind, any theoretical competition between them was won by her due to the simple fact that at least around christmas, she got to see her elder sister beyond a glimpse in hallways. Even now, the smell of freshly cut pine was enough to have all those moments running through her head as if they happened only yesterday.

The tradition, however, died with their parents.

xXxXx

Elsa had long been a little torn when it came to christmas. The childish wonder at the magic of the holiday faded fast once she started having to hide her own magic (and herself), and most of the fun disappeared as well when her focus shifted from playing with Anna to protecting her. Still, at least during the christmas season, she was able to spend time _around_ Anna, even if the time wasn't truly spent _with_ her. She could be in the same room as her little sister and have both of them be occupied enough that she didn't have to worry as much, and could – from the corner of her eye – watch Anna just be _Anna_. She could see her happy smile and the glue and dye and clay that tended to end up dotting her face and hands and hair more often than not, hear her ooh and ah when their mother taught her something new, or squeal in excitement when she finished a project of her own.

More than anything, Elsa could forget – if only for a few, stolen moments – that she almost cost her family the life of its youngest member. Their parents never blamed her; Elsa knew that well. But of course, they never needed to. She blamed herself enough.

The year Elsa turned thirteen – when Anna was thus halfway through her ninth year ('I'm half ten!', she'd insist) – was the first time that she'd almost lost the iron control she'd spent the past five years developing. It had been a particularly cruel reminder of how closely linked her powers were with her emotions, because when Anna had stood next to her at the table and offered up the prettiest of all the folded figures she'd made that entire month... God above, she had almost frozen over the entire castle from sheer guilt.

"_Elsa?" _

_She'd been so startled that she'd almost pulled the tiny, sharp blade clean through the paper she was cutting so carefully. Being in the same room as Anna was one thing. It was, however, another situation entirely to suddenly have her little sister standing so close that they were almost touching, and based on the sudden way in which Anna's eyes widened and then lowered in shame when Elsa's head shot up, it showed._

_'Run!' her mind screamed while she just sat there and couldn't move. 'Run, you monster, before you really do kill her!'_

_She was halfway ready to, really. Had, in fact, already tensed in preparation for standing and excusing herself, but Anna... Anna had this look in her eyes that Elsa utterly detested on sight. A half-sad, half-hopeful expression that tugged at the corners of her mouth as she shuffled her feet and only barely dared to even glance up. It was such a fearful look for such an instinctively brave soul; it had absolutely no business intruding on Anna's usually so cheerful face, and Elsa was not going to let herself be guilty of aiding and abetting that look on top of everything else._

"_Yes, Anna?" she therefore said, and found a smile somewhere when Anna stared at her with wide, excited eyes, even as she wondered if her voice shook as much as she thought it did. And how long it had been since they'd last held each other's gazes for this many seconds._

_Anna really did have the prettiest eyes – especially when she was happy._

"_Here!" With a wide, far less hesitant smile, a folded star (with a few bent edges, but that just stamped it as Anna's work) was offered to her in two small, freckled hands, and Elsa hesitated for only the briefest of moments before accepting it with her own careful (gloved) fingers. "It's the best I've made!" Anna proclaimed proudly, and then frowned. "It's not as pretty as your things, though."_

_No, maybe it wasn't, Elsa thought. But it was undeniably of Anna's making – marked by cheerful enthusiasm much more so than by calculated caution – and she treasured it._

"_It's pretty because you made it," she offered in somewhat shy return, and wanted to cry at the beaming smile that earned her. "Um..." Uncertain, she glanced to the small stack of decorations that she'd completed herself. "Do you... want one of mine?"_

"_Can I?" Anna sounded almost breathless. Was, in fact, bouncing on the balls of her feet as she looked to the table, to Elsa and back again. "Really?"_

"_Sure," she confirmed, and very carefully did not clench her hands around the star they still held as Anna took the straightest possible path and crawled onto the table itself by way of Elsa's lap._

_She was so fearless, Anna was, and Elsa wondered for anything but the first time what it was that made Anna want her presence as much as she seemed to sometimes, because she really didn't have anything to add to any of her sister's experiences. She was... just Elsa, while Anna was everything anyone could ever hope to be. Kind and warm and helpful, eternally positive by nature and infectiously emotive to the point where even Elsa smiled at the sight of an upheld, folded heart where the interweaving strips formed stars. Anna questioned with no more than the look in her eyes, and Elsa responded in the exact same way._

_Her heart all but leapt from her throat when Anna dove into her arms and wrapped her up in a surprisingly strong hug for someone so small, but the gloves meant that she sent only the thinnest layer of frost creeping around the edges of the star – which she'd thankfully managed to move out of the way – and that was easily enough removed without Anna being any the wiser._

_'Don't you dare deny her this,' she firmly told herself and – after a halfway fearful glance to her mother's misty-eyed smile and her father's gentle understanding – carefully folded her arms around her little sister in turn and allowed her cheek to rest against soft, copper hair as she closed her eyes. 'Right now, she loves you. Let her.'_

_And damn it all, she could at least give Anna this one moment. It might be the last one they'd ever have._

The hours spent quietly in Anna's company during christmastime had come to a sudden, painful stop the year their parents had died. Anna hadn't offered (why would she? She buried them _alone)_ and Elsa hadn't asked (how could she? She had no _right_). Yet, every morning on the day after her birthday, Elsa would find something slipped into her room from beyond her closed door. A folded heart, a papercut star, a garland made from the tiniest pieces she'd ever seen... But after completely losing two of three, Elsa hadn't dared return the favor for any of them.

Anna had to be safe. She _had to_.

xXxXx

Anna wasn't really sure what she was doing. She was at least pretty sure that it was kind of stupid, but not stupid enough for her to just stay her whimsical butt in bed instead of wandering down night-darkened, winter-chilled hallways at way too early in the morning.

Ah, well. She gently nudged open the door to the queen's chambers and peeked around the frame, and then promptly rolled her eyes at the sight of the very awake occupant. Elsa was dressed for bed – even _in_ bed – only she was sitting up with a book in her hands in the gentle glow of the single lamp, with her hair loose and spilling over her shoulders in soft waves as she read.

"Do you ever sleep?" Anna wondered as she entered without any further preamble, and closed the door quietly enough behind her for a soft chuckle to be audible.

"Do you?" Elsa returned reasonably, with one corner of her lips quirking as she settled a strip of fabric between two pages and silently closed the small tome in her hands. "Aside from in the late mornings, I mean."

"Har har." The low laugh made her smile all the same, and she crossed over to the bed to perch on the edge of it. "You do sleep though, right?"

"Yes." The sky-blue eyes rolled in fond exasperation, and Elsa's lips shaped an easy, half-grin. "I even do so at night," she went on, and pulled her duvet-covered knees up enough for her to loosely wind her arms around them. "Though I don't need as much, these days. It might be the weather."

Anna sent a brief glance towards the large window and the snow-covered sill outside. "You mean, you're getting energy from the cold?"

"Maybe." The silk-clad shoulders shrugged once, and Elsa curled enough to rest her cheek on her knees. "It's not beyond the realm of possibility."

"Yeah, well." She flopped onto both her own back and – judging by the bumps she could feel – her sister's feet. "Nothing is, where you're concerned."

Elsa gave her a look, and poked out the very tip of her tongue. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"As you like, Your Majesty."

"Why thank you, Your Highness." The reply was quite possibly the driest Anna had ever heard. "May I infer from that that you came here solely to toy with me?"

"You may not." Anna turned up her nose – as well as she could, at least, given the fact that she was currently lying down. "In fact, I'm here to-" And now she could feel the heat rising to her cheeks as well as the suddenly curious look she was getting from those blue eyes, and sighed. "Well, it's dumb, really but-" She fished the small object from the side pocket in her robe, and closed her eyes as she held it out. "Here."

"A Christmas ornament?" Elsa's voice was strangely soft, and the cool fingers that brushed against Anna's palm when they claimed the tiny, folded paper star were almost trembling.

"Yeah, well..." She cracked one, cautious eye open and watched the tiny tugs at the corners of her sister's eyes and mouth. "Tradition, y'know? Like I said, it's probably dumb, but... habit, right?"

Elsa just watched her for long, silent moments, and then there was a faint, upwards pull at the corner of her mouth that curled her lips into the gentlest smile Anna thought she had ever seen.

"Elsa?"

"Come with me," her sister asked as she slid free of the covers and stood, and kept the silly little ornament safely held in one, bare hand while she extended the other to Anna. "Please."

Anna rose because she couldn't imagine ever turning Elsa down for any reason, and let herself be led down familiar hallways with her fingers safely twined with her sister's. She decided for anything but the first time that Elsa's cooler skin was a bit of a blessing in disguise, because whenever they held hands, her own always seemed to grow clammy. Why, she couldn't quite pinpoint, but she guessed that it was because everything with Elsa was at once both so new and so hauntingly familiar – every moment between them was so sweet that it ached, and everything that brought them closer left her both breathless and uncommonly tongue-tied.

It felt wonderful, and when a very familiar door was pushed open and she was tugged into Elsa's darkened, childhood bedroom, also more than just a little surreal.

A sentiment Elsa seemed to share, apparently, because she took all of two steps into the room itself before pausing. "I'm sorry it took so long."

"Better late than never." Anna gave the hand in her own a gentle squeeze before releasing it entirely, because the room was pitch black when the door closed behind them, and if anyone was to know where a working lamp could be found, chances were very much in Elsa's favor.

"Mm," was all Elsa gave in reply, but Anna had learned the inflections in her voice well enough over the past months to interpret it - even when it came mixed with the sound of a match being lit.

"Hey." She found a silk-covered shoulder in the flickering light, and studied the way that the red glow of the match turned those eyes almost violet when Elsa looked up. "Stop it. It's in the past."

"Mm." The tone was different this time, and Anna gave the shoulder under her hand a little rub as Elsa sighed. "You're right. I'm sorry, it's just- there are so many things I wish I could change."

"And I get that," Anna promised softly, and claimed the match between careful fingers because she could see the lamp in the faint light. "There's a lot of things I'd like to change, too. For one, I'd have liked to have gotten my hands on a battering ram and just beaten this door down." She grinned at the wick as she held the match to it and heard Elsa snort behind her. "But we can't. So we might as well move forward and do it together."

"As long as we get to bring our past with us in some ways." The familiar voice was coming from an odd direction, and after turning up the wick a little higher to strengthen the flame, Anna turned to see Elsa halfway under her childhood bed. "Such as-" A grunt, and the violet-covered body was back in full view, along with a medium-sized, ornate wooden chest. "-this."

"'This'?" She watched curiously as Elsa got to her feet and lifted the chest onto the bed, and wondered if the red tint to her sister's cheeks was due to exertion or embarrassment for all of two seconds before the chest was unclasped, upended, and left a massive pile of paper... _things_ spreading over the covers like a particularly colorful pile of sand.

"This," her sister confirmed around a sigh, and sorted carefully through the stack before collecting a single item and stepping back over to Anna. "Was this intentional?" she then wondered with a slight smile, and held up both of her hands. In each was a small, folded paper star – one that Anna knew well because she'd made it all of maybe three hours ago, and the other... the other took a few seconds, but when it finally clicked, Anna had to cover her mouth with one hand to keep from sucking in so much air that her lungs burst.

"Elsa, that's-"

"The first one you gave me," her sister finished quietly. "The rest of them are in there, too."

"I didn't make _that_ many," Anna muttered a touch dumbly, and took the old, surprisingly pristine ornament between trembling fingers. "Did I?"

"No." Elsa's chuckle was a little wan. "Not for me, at least. Some of them are yours that Mama or Papa brought to me, and some of them..." She sighed. "A lot of them, really, are mine. Ones I made for you, but... never gave you."

"Why not?"

"I..." Elsa's eyes dropped. "I suppose I just didn't dare to."

"You didn't _dare?_" Anna was well aware of the fact that her voice was not only deepening, but starting to tremble with scarcely suppressed emotion. "Dare?! For all those years I thought that y- that _I_ somehow did someth- and _you didn't dare?!"_ she demanded, and only at the last second reminded herself to set the fragile paper down gently instead of with a smack. "How in the _hell_-"

"Because I was scared." Elsa's voice was very soft, and the hand that came up to cup Anna's cheek was hesitant, though she wasn't anywhere near foolish enough to push it away. "The longer I took, the more frightened I became, and the more frightened I became, the harder it was for me to convince myself to reach out to you in return."

"Dammit, Elsa! Don't you underst-" She cut herself off before her voice rose too high, and pressed the heel of her palm against her forehead as she took a purposeful, slow breath. "I was the absolute _last _person you should have been scared of," she whispered hoarsely.

"No." The negation was soft, but firm, and the only thing that stopped Anna's temper from flaring too brightly was the sensation of careful fingers curling around her own hand and cradling it. "You were the very first." Elsa's eyes were deep and blue and apologetic, and her half-smile oddly wistful. "Because you were the only one whose opinion of me truly _mattered_. You still are."

On some level - several, actually - Anna could understand that, but... "Ungh," she groaned, and butted her forehead lightly against her sister's with a scowl. "You're an idiot."

That earned her a low, wry chuckle. "On that, we agree."

"Hrmph." She stuck out her tongue in exchange for another smile – warmer this time, somehow – and then just let their foreheads rest against each other with a sigh while their fingers twined between them. It was late, she was tired and by all rights she really should be feeling totally exhausted right now, but she wasn't. She just felt... tranquil, almost, she decided, and moved forward into an easy embrace that had her arms winding around Elsa's shoulders while Elsa's settled around her waist in return. Easy and simple and _right_ and lingering and-

God, she'd missed her all those years. Missed this.

"You think we can fit them all on the tree?" Anna wondered halfway to herself as she studied the pile, and felt something inside her warm like a large rock under sunlight when Elsa's arms remained exactly where they were.

"We could always have another one brought in," was the pensive comment after a few seconds, followed by a soft hum of consideration and a single nod. "I'll talk to Kai in the morning."

It was an utterly preposterous notion – who on earth had _two_ christmas trees? - and yet, it was so incredibly fitting. One for each of them, for two distinct lives lived so very separately. Two trees decorated with bits and pieces from what little shared past that they had, and with ornaments made by both of them on each, to symbolize their growing closeness and the re-entwining of their lives. It was _perfect_, and the sheer rightness of the idea filled Anna's chest to the point of bursting – to where she could either cry or laugh, but she had to do _something_ to release the emotion or she was simply going to pass out.

There was a single instance of a hiccuping, half-sob as she tightened her hold and all but sank into her sister's arms, but overall, Anna chose to do the latter. And it took less than handful of heartbeats before Elsa's halfway-watery, halfway-relieved laughter joined her own.

Next year, Anna vowed within the privacy of her own mind as Elsa's lips dusted a kiss to her cheek and gentle fingers curled around the back of her neck, they wouldn't _need_ two trees. Though a bigger, single one might be a good idea unless they wanted the poor evergreen to be crushed under the weight of the decorations alone.

"Merry Christmas, Elsa," she murmured into her sister's shoulder, and felt a soft breath stir the hairs at her temple.

"Yes, it is," Elsa agreed, and there was a soft smile pressing against the side of Anna's face. "Merry Christmas, Anna."

xXxXx

**Notes:  
><strong>_Ouch_.

I pulled a couple of things from my upbringing in terms of the few traditions I've referenced – most notably how late the tree is decorated (which I don't think is terribly common, but feel free to correct me). In my family, that's always done on the evening of December 23rd, so guess what I'll be doing tomorrow? Or later today, local time.

(I'd say I'll be driving my brothers crazy, but all of us are equally anal when it comes to dispersing the ornaments _evenly._ Mom left the task to us three stooges years ago – now she just snickers from the sidelines while we pass a single piece of tinsel back and forth for ten minutes. Nyuk nyuk nyuk!)

Written for_ Elsanna Week_, day two on 122214 – _Deck the Halls_.


	10. New Year's Kiss

For disclaimers, please see part one.

**Warnings:**  
>Icest.<p>

**Notes:  
><strong>Someone asked if I could write Elsa and Anna's first kiss in this universe. Technically, we covered that in scene one of c5, but there's nothing wrong with providing an alternate option, is there? And yup – this was the prompt for _Elsanna Week_ on 122714, but I didn't finish it until today, so... Happy New Year? :D

(_I now declare this bazaar open_.)

Enjoy.

**New Year's Kiss**

* * *

><p>It isn't hunger that wakes her up – at least not a hunger for food - which is understandable, given the massive spread that's always prepared for both staff and residence on New Year's Eve. In fact, she's honestly feeling a little sick to her stomach (probably from eating too much), and remains on her back in bed for several moments while she tries to figure out what it was that woke her. The clock at her bedside table tells her that she's been asleep for at least two hours, and she fuzzily puzzles over the cause for the interruption while she watches the shifting glow of the fire dance across the ceiling and walls.<p>

She doesn't end up actually figuring anything out other than the fact that she needs to get up if she wants her stomach to settle any, so she does. It takes some effort due to the fact that even in that short amount of time she's managed to get herself thoroughly tangled up in the covers, but she manages, and gives herself a cursory once-over in the vanity mirror before trading bedroom for hallway and closing the door quietly behind her.

The castle at night is a world apart from the castle during the day. It's only dimly lit, for one, and full of the noises that are normally hidden away beneath the hustle and bustle of daily life, like the faint creak of the floorboards under her bare feet and the whoosh of the nighttime breeze outside the windows. They're sounds that she's grown used to over a number of years, so while others might find them unsettling, to her they feel far more like a pat on the back – even a hug – from an old friend that she hasn't seen in a long time. They do, however, also come with a strange feeling of almost-melancholy, and she turns that notion over in her head as she wanders aimlessly down one hallway after the next, but ends up deciding that it's probably because this is the first time in a long while that she's actually been _alone._ That hasn't really happened since the Thaw, so it's odd to return to solitude, even if it's just for a few stolen moments in the middle of the night where her sister really can't be expected to keep her company, since at least one of them should be allowed a full night's rest.

She knows that, and yet she doubts that it's been even half an hour by the time she finds herself at a familiar door. There's no strip of light below – unsurprising, considering the hour – but she still only spends a scant minute debating with herself before carefully pressing down on the handle and nudging the door open.

As she expected, the room is dark, but thanks to the lowly flickering fire it's easy enough to pick her way through the open space and over to the side of the large bed within, and once she's seated herself on the edge and allowed a few additional seconds for her eyes to fully adjust, it's equally easy to make out the welcome and remarkably innocent sight of her sleeping sister. For all that Elsa teases her about sleeping so soundly that someone would think she was dead twice over, she's a very deep sleeper herself – if also a significantly less... _enthusiastic_ sleeper than Anna. At least, she doesn't relocate her covers to the floor, or drool, or has hair sticking out in all directions.

Even unconscious, Elsa is the picture of sophisticated grace that Anna once upon a time wished that she could be herself. Past tense, because that air does suit Elsa a lot better and Anna wouldn't change her for all the gold in the world. Certainly not when the sight of Elsa sleeping is quite possibly the most serene, most beautiful thing she's ever seen. She doesn't even want to wake her, solitude or not, but on the other hand, she isn't really alone when sitting next to Elsa, is she?

So she stays where she is and doesn't speak, even if she _does_ use one careful hand to brush back the few locks of platinum that have fallen over Elsa's face as she slumbers. It's so soft under her touch that her hand lingers, and she trails gentle fingers through the silky strands – shaping gorges and ridges that reform into a smooth surface after a scarce second, and finds herself as easily enchanted by this as she is by everything else that involves her sister. It's not really fair that Elsa can do this to her without any conscious effort, but unless Anna is misreading something very badly, she seems to have a similar effect on Elsa.

Elsa, whose eyelids now flutter and then lift halfway to reveal sleep-blurred, perfect blue eyes that sharpen in warm recognition when they settle on Anna's face in the dim lighting.

"Can't sleep?" The familiar voice is a little low and uncommonly hoarse, but Elsa's lips are curving in a lazy smile that has the faintest hint of a pleased grin at its edges – a sight that proves to yet again do the most interesting things to Anna's heart rate.

"I've slept," she answers with a smile of her own, and doesn't bother to stop her idle stroking of the pale hair. "I just woke up again."

"That's usually what happens at one point or another," Elsa comments around an almost-yawn, and then uses one hand to lift the edge of the covers in easy invitation even as her eyes slip shut again. "Just get in," she grouses when Anna doesn't move for a few seconds. "Before all the warmth escapes."

The obviously fake exasperation in her voice makes Anna laugh, and she wiggles into place with a contented sigh; tucking her head under Elsa's chin and hardly even noticing the tiny thrills that shoot up and down her spine as their legs twine loosely and their arms slip around each other. They've been close ever since the Thaw and have only continued to steadily grow closer as time passes, and by now Anna is so used to the easy familiarity of physical affection that even the faint tingle of arousal that comes with it is little more than a pleasant variety of white noise – it's _there_, but it's not what matters.

What matters is Elsa's slow exhales against the top of her head, the steady movement of a smooth, silk-covered back under Anna's hands and the very comfortable warmth of two bodies beneath a single duvet. What matters is Elsa's lips brushing against Anna's forehead in the lightest of kisses and the way her fingers draw lazy, tiny circles along the dip of Anna's spine. What matters is the sheer peace she feels when she's in Elsa's arms; an almost dizzying sense of contentment that makes her not want to move even one inch from this spot – at least not until Elsa's hold on her tightens and she's tugged _closer_.

Closer, Anna considers as she hums and presses a faint kiss to Elsa's clavicle, is perfectly okay.

It's a strange mix of peace and adrenaline, she decides for anything but the first time as they rest there together. The deepening of their relationship has been happening slowly but surely – from strangers to friends to sisters, and now it feels very much like they're teetering on the edge of something deeper than even that. Something that has Anna turning her head just enough that she can pick up on the slow _ba-dum_ of Elsa's heartbeat.

_Ba-dum, ba-dum, ba-dum, _the sound goes.

_True-love, true-love, true-love_, Anna hears, and wonders for the Nth time if they just might be on the same figurative page when cool fingers draw lingering lines over the back of her neck and Elsa's lips caress her hairline.

"Did you make any resolutions?" she wonders – half out of simple curiosity and half from knowing what her own is.

"Just one," comes Elsa's low murmur into her hair, and while Anna isn't cold at all, something about that voice – some hidden implication that she wants to be true bad enough to almost be able to taste it – still manages to make her shiver pleasantly. "You?"

Anna's lips quirk. "Just one," she responds with maybe a hint of playfulness in her tone, because Elsa chuckles in reply.

It's a new year, Anna considers, and feels the silk under her touch move with calm, even breathing as she traces thoughtful, idle patterns just a single layer away from warm skin. That's a good time for beginnings, isn't it? Maybe even the best possible time, if the chance is there?

"You know, I was thinking." She revels in the pleasurable tingle of skin on skin when she rises higher onto the pillows to fully face Elsa, and smiles both at the amused lift of two dark-gold eyebrows and the currents of energy she can almost physically _feel_ running between them. "There's one tradition for New Year's that we've completely missed."

"Oh?" Familiar fingers are trailing from her forehead down over her chin and along her jaw, and the faint, almost lazy, upwards tug at the corner of Elsa's mouth is plucking at strings deeper in Anna's heart – in Anna's _soul_ – than anything ever has. "How terribly remiss of us. Which tradition are you thinking of?"

"Well..." There's soft, white-gold hair between her fingers and a smooth forehead touching her own, and she can _taste_ Elsa's breath where it washes over her own mouth. She's falling almost endlessly into those blue eyes – into the tenderness she can see so clearly in them - and she's nervous and determined and exhilarated all at once.

Anna never does get to mention in words exactly which tradition she was thinking of. She does, however, learn that Elsa tastes sweeter than even chocolate.

xXxXx

**End notes:  
><strong>I'm not entirely happy with this one, to be honest. But a good bit of it was written in 2015 (local time), and with _Diskofil_ as the background noise – look their MVs up on YouTube at your own risk, because Danes are very fond of goofy-ass disco-pop (or at least we were back in the 90s). It proves to be very distracting when it comes to writing, though. At least for me.

I won't be posting anything for the remaining prompts for _Elsanna Week_ this time around, so I'm marking this fic as complete yet again – until next time.

(Why does that kind of sound like a threat?)


End file.
